Caged Birds
by MidnightBlueDragon
Summary: Jason and Tim were having relatively good days. They should have suspected that something bad was going to happen. Now captured by the Joker, will they be enough to get away from the villain? Or will they need a little more help?


**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

**The new death in the family arc got me thinking about doing this piece. It's my version of Jason and Tim being kidnapped by the Joker. This takes place in the old continuity. **

**Warning this piece will take place in part flashback, part present tense for the beginning.**

**Enjoy! Review and tell me what you think!**

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Chapter 1: Awake

Jason grimaced as he tried to move around. He had just awaken from unconsciousness to find himself lying face down with his cheek resting on cold concrete. It wasn't just the cold of the ground that sent a shiver down his back. It was the fact that he realized that he was alone. Which meant that the freak who had kidnapped him and tortured him, the Joker, had taken Red Robin somewhere else.

Cursing under his breath, Jason knew that he had to get to wherever that was as fast as possible. He knew what the maniac clown was capable of. Squirming around, he tried to get his hands out of the rope that bound them. Unfortunately for him, the more he squirmed, the tighter it bound against his wrists, to the point that it felt as if the rope was cutting into his flesh. Moments later, when he felt something wet against his fingers, he realized that the rope had drawn blood.

Closing his eyes to think, Jason's throbbing head was able to pick up a blood-curling scream from somewhere in the building. Eyes jolting open, his mind racing, and his heart beating fast, Jason was now desperate for a way out.

Anyway out...

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Tim stopped screaming as the electic pulse that had been sent through his veins came to a halt. He leaned forward, panting, forcing himself to stay strong, telling himself that help was on its way. He was lying to himself, but saw no other way to get himself to not give in. Trembling, Tim couldn't find the energy to look up as his captor waltzed over to him, completely and utterly pleased with himself.

Joker used two bony fingers to bring Tim's head up so that he could see the fear and defeat in the boy's once vivid and full of life eyes. He let out a cackle, "Now, now, birdie, don't give up so easily. We're just getting started. The second Robin lasted far longer."

Gritting his teeth, Tim felt a rush of energy from his anger of what the villain had once done to his brother. He spit out a mixture of blood and saliva at the villain, who didn't look pleased. Joker carefully wiped the hot liquid from his face before slapping the teen hero.

"Behave, little birdie. You know what happens to birdies who don't behave," Joker straightened himself and used his thumb to demonstrate cutting a throat. "Metaphorically, of course. That way of murder is soooo unclassy."

Tim bit back any comment, not that his throat would allow any words to spill out, and wondering absently if he had been spending a little too much time with is older brother. As Joker began talking excitedly about his preferred ways of murder, Tim found himself reflecting on how they had gotten here.

How everything had gone from good to bad in a matter of hours.

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_FLASHBACK: _

_Tim leaned against his chair, smiling as Bart burst into laughter. Conner, on the other hand, did not look pleased. Their waitress had accidentally dumped hot soup on him. His two friends who knew that Conner was just fine with the temperature but hated that warm soggy feeling on his clothes, were highly amused. _

_As the waitress, a blonde teen around their age, murmured an apology, she caught Tim's eye. The dark-haired teen was sure that he saw her smirk maliciously as she turned around and strolled back to the kitchen, in no real hurry to replace the boy's soup. He found himself absorbed in figuring out where he knew this girl before. She had obviously known who Conner was because that definitely had not been an accident. _

_"What did she say her name was?" Tim inquired from his two friends. _

_Conner growled as he wiped away noodles from his shirt. "She didn't." _

_"Ooh, Tim has a crush," Bart was lost in a fit of giggles again. Tim merely smiled at his friend, enjoying these few minutes of blissful happiness. He hadn't been able to hang out with them much and had decided that Bart could tease all he wanted as long as he kept laughing. Lately, Bart had been in a mood. No one had been sure what that mood was but the rare moments when he was happy, they liked to keep it that way. _

_"On her?" Conner demanded, aggravated. _

_"Your soup will be out in a few minutes." The blonde reappeared at their table, a pitcher of icy water in her hands. "Anyone need a refill?" Her voice was innocent and so were her blue eyes that she blinked sweetly. _

_Conner pushed forward his glass, continuing to pick of vegetables from his clothing, complaining about the mess that she had made. _

_"I'm so sorry," she gushed, but a small hint in her voice betrayed her. Tim thought he was the only one to notice that. "Let me refill your water," she then proceeded to pour the water over Conner's head. _

_Conner leaped up, now soaked in water, "Dammit! What the hell is wrong with you?" _

_Cocking her head to one side, the blonde looked deep in thought. "Nothing that I know of." At this point, Bart couldn't take it anymore, literally falling out of his seat, laughing._

_"Courtney!" The manager gasped as he came and saw what had happened. "You're fired!"_

_"Okay," she shrugged nonchalantly before taking off her apron and handing it to the manager. "This job sucked anyways." _

_The manager glared at her before turning to Conner and offering his apologies and other things to cool things down. As soon as the manager had left, the blonde turned to Bart who was now sitting up and crossed her arms, a smirk playing on her lips. _

_"Beat that." _

_END FLASHBACK_

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Taking in deep breaths and letting them out, Jason turned over to his back, glaring up at the ceiling, feeling helpless and useless. It was the same feeling that he had a few years ago on the night that he had died. Feeling his heart beat faster than before, Jason pushed out the memories and focused on getting to his brother. He refused to let what happened to him happen to his little brother. He struggled up to a sitting position and looked around him for something sharp to cut the rope with.

There was nothing in the room. Nothing but a crowbar. Jason narrowed his eyes, hating how the Joker could so easily torment him with a mere object. Lowering his head, Jason's features softly, missing the sweet freedom that he had just a few hours ago.

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FLASHBACK

_Jason had been in New York City on business trip. Specifically, an illegal business breaking up trip. He had been recently investigating an underground drug cartel which had been supplying teens with a deadly and addictive new drug. Supposedly, one of the main manufacturer and suppliers resided in New York City. Having already set up a meeting with this man to "browse" through his merchandise, Jason had a few hours to kill and no where to be. _

_This left him wandering around aimlessly, lost in thought. Eventually, he was surprised to find himself in front of the Brownstone, the Justice Society's headquarters and museum. Not really thinking about it, Jason headed up the stairs and into the museum where he found crowds of other people looking around, gawking at the statues, and taking pictures of everything and everyone. _

_Unconsciously, Jason pulled up his hood over his dark hair and shoved his hands in his pockets. Something about these legacy heros made him feel uncomfortable and like he wasn't good enough. Moving quickly through the statues of the heroes, Jason entered the statues of the villains. Hating that he had loosened up when he had entered the room, he shot glares at everyone who looked his way. As he passed by a group of teens who were listening to one girl explain about the villain that they were looking at, Jason stopped walking and turned his back to them, pretending to gaze at another statue, but his ears pricked up and picking up every word._

_"Pemberton," she was saying, "He's the nephew of the first Star Spangled Kid. Bad news. Hate his guts. Seriously, he's taking out his personal vendetta on everyone who wears the mask. Why can't he just go bother Gimmick Girl beats me." Those names sounded familiar to Jason who kept listening, intrigued and wondering who this girl was._

_"Isn't he the one who kidnapped Stargirl a while ago?" A male voice inquired calmly, Jason's eyes widened slightly as he recognized the voice. _

_"The one with the Nazi army!" An excited voice added. _

_"Why are all your villains Nazis?" A third male inquired, an unimpressed tone to his voice. _

_"Forgive me, we can't all be chased around by a bald capitalist," she retorted. Jason smirked. Lex Luthor. Meaning that the boy was Conner Kent and the other one was probably Bart Allen. Meaning that the third was definitely his little brother._

_END FLASHBACK_

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The sound of footsteps broke Jason out of his thoughts. He narrowed his eyes at the door, ready to glare and attack anyone who walked in. However, the footsteps stopped and seemed to decide against coming in. Instead, Jason could hear them quietly walking way. He almost regretted that the person had not entered. He hated this loneliness and just wanted someone else there. It didn't matter who it was.

He just wanted someone to come and find him.

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